The massive Concord stage thundered across the empty lawless miles of the Great Plains bound for the wickedest town in the West Dodge City. It was a wide-open cattle town always itching for a fight, and a big one was about to start. For Burl Channing was on this stage, a Federal marshal hell-bent on a mission of personal vengeance to bring a vicious murderer to justice. The man he seeks is Frank Killian, a cunning gambler with a killer's finely honed edge. Frightened of one man and betrayed by the other, Emily Barker, a beautiful young widow, is suddenly caught up in their struggle a battle that will soon explode in front of the legendary Long Branch Saloon in one of Dodge City's deadliest gunfights.